ACLU Applauds House Judiciary Action to Restore Habeas Corpus

Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union is encouraged to see the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is meeting to mark up a vital bill to restore due process rights to detainees. H.R. 2826, introduced by Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) of the Armed Services Committee, will restore habeas corpus rights to those being detained by the United States government at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.

The following can be attributed to Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel for the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“Congress must do the right thing and restore habeas rights. We live in a country that is governed by laws and a Constitution. This means not keeping people in detention camps for years without any charges against them, or any legal process for determining their future. The Bush Administration has not heeded the wisdom of our nation’s founding fathers who enshrined the idea of basic due process protections in the Constitution. We hope that today’s action shows that the House leadership will start to focus on a major reason why they were put in power—to restore constitutional checks and balances and make sure that no president will ever be a king or queen.”